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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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We invite you to attend the January meeting of the VDC to help celebrate the fact that public health has already successfully kept one of ITS most crucial resolutions for the 21st century ... namely the global eradication of a disease that:
• Has a mortality rate approaching 100% during outbreaks
• Causes erosion of the mouth, nose, and genital tract
• Kills within 6-10 days of first showing symptoms
• Has been responsible for causing extinction-level events
• Has been used as an agent of bioterrorism by invading armies
No, not smallpox — we got rid of that way back in the 20th century.
I’m speaking of Rinderpest — the ickiest, most devastating disease you probably never heard of.
Rinderpest doesn’t kill people, it kills cattle and buffalo. Millions of them. Rapidly. In fact, within days to weeks of its appearance in a region (frequently accompanying invading armies, carried by resistant but virus-shedding trojan horse Gray Steppe oxen), there would be no bovines left to till the fields, move people or goods to market, fulfill bride-price obligations, or feed and clothe the population. Which in turn led to mass starvation, social chaos, and history’s first ever school of veterinary medicine (1762, Lyons France).
